1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of aircraft control devices and specifically towards a fine adjustment mechanism for controlling a throttle control lever, fuel mixture control lever, and a propeller control lever of an aircraft.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional twin engine aircraft, particularly a turbocharged aircraft, each engine is controlled individually through its own throttle, fuel mixture, and propeller control levers. The throttle control lever adjusts air intake into each engine, the fuel mixture control lever controls fuel intake into the engine, and the propeller control lever controls the propeller revolutions. All of these controls regulate the overall thrust of each engine.
The control levers are integrated into the console of the aircraft and move either forward toward the nose of the aircraft for more thrust or backward towards the tail of the aircraft for less thrust. For example, as the throttle control lever is moved forward, more air enters the aircraft engine, which in turn generates more thrust from the aircraft engine. Since there are three control levers for each engine, a typical twin engine aircraft has a total of six control levers for the throttle, fuel mixture and propeller controls. The control levers for each function are adjacent to each other, but move independently from each other.
Due to various factors, each engine will require more or less thrust in order to maintain altitude, control, and direction. Additionally, each engine needs to be precisely adjusted to match the other engine""s power and to synchronize the two engines. During a flight, each aircraft engine is adjusted constantly by an operator. The operator changes the throttle, fuel mixture, and propeller control lever positions slightly, until a correct balance is achieved. These adjustments made during a flight are performed in minor increments. But, because the control levers are large levers, making fine or minor adjustments to the control levers is very difficult. As a result, over or under adjustment of any of the control lever frequently occurs.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device or apparatus that can finely adjust the throttle, fuel mixture, and propeller control levers"" positions, so that over or under adjustment of any of the control lever position is minimized. Moreover, there is a need for a device or apparatus that performs fine adjustments without interfering with the normal operation of the control levers. Thus, the fine adjusting device or apparatus needs to be capable of being over-ridden by the normal operational movement of the control lever by the operator.
According to the present invention, there is provided an aircraft control including a control lever having a handle and a base, where the base is operatively mountable for movement between predetermined control lever positions, and a vernier adjusting mechanism for incrementally displacing the control lever between the positions. Additionally, the present invention provides for a vernier adjusting mechanism including a friction drive mechanism for finely adjusting the control lever""s position.